What is academic fair use?
Answer
Academic fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright owner when the material is used for instruction, research and scholarship. Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act establishes four factors to help decide whether a particular use is fair use:
- The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
- The nature of the copyrighted work;
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
- The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
